The Swing, Part 3
Most golfers think of the golf swing as one big arc, or pendulum. In fact the golf swing is made up of two pendulums, which without the help of the rotation of our body would swing in two different directions. The first pendulum is the arm pendulum. The arm pendulum has its center point on our left shoulder and is scribed by the left arm until just after you strike the ball, at which time the center point of that pendulum transfers to your right shoulder as the right arm straightens and extends out along the ball-target line while the left arm folds.
In the arm pendulum one arm is always extended. This allows for the maximum swing arc. Extended does not mean stiff. I prefer to think of the arm in a reaching position. The muscles remain active, and the elbow is not locked. The left arm is the extended arm in the backswing and remains extended in the downswing through contact. Just past contact there is a brief period where both arms are extended, and then the right arm takes over. There is a real reaching or extension movement as club head follows the target line for as long as possible. This extension of the arms during the golf swing is an essential component of the golf swing. But remember, it is one arm at a time except for a brief period right after contact.
The right arm acts as a stabilizer and has just one function. It must guide and help lift the left arm to the same position at the top of the swing on a consistent basis in order for the golfer to develop a repeatable swing. If you don't start down from the same position at the top every time, your pendulum will not be on same plane as it descends toward the ball-target line. The position at the top is critical. This is why we don't reach back for extra distance, because more than likely the result will be to take our swing off plane (usually outside) and the result is a ball that we play from the rough or can't find. When I say reach back, I am talking about those times when we want just a little more distance. The natural thing to do is to try and increase the length of our backswing, so we take our hands just a little higher than ususal. This will result in dipping past parallel and more than likely taking the club head inside of the target. When we reach back we also move our right shoulder up and back, which makes it difficult for us to lower it (or drop) along the same pathwhich it must do in the downswing in order to keep on the same plane.
The second pendulum is the wrist pendulum. The wrist begins cocking the club as the club head moves past waist-high. The center point of the arc is at your wrists. This pendulum is generally referred to as the wrist cock, and actually would move in a different direction than the arm pendulum if it were not for the rotation of your body. If you don't understand this take your stance and cock your wrists. You will see the club move out, up and away from you.
In the golf swing the rotation by the shoulders followed by the torso and hips in the backswing sets up the downswing. The shoulders must be turned 90 degrees to the rear to make it possible for the wrist pendulum (cocking of the wrists) to swing in line with the swing of the arm pendulum. If you learn the correct way to release the down-pressure on your rear foot and allow the weight to move to the front foot and rotate your hips, the timing of the downswing and the uncocking of the wrists will happen automatically. The two separate swing arcs combine with the rotation of your hips, torso, and shoulders into the one big arc you usually think of as the golf swing. The less physically and mentally involved you are in the swing, the better your swing will be. There is a physics theory that capturing the kinetic energy by combining the swing arcs correctly is the secret of the golf swing. This makes it possible to swing easy and achieve a high club-head speed.